Cincinnati streetcar ridership falls below expectations

9/5/17 12:13 AM

CINCINNATI — With Cincinnati’s streetcar close to its one-year anniversary, ridership projections have fallen short of expectations.

Consultants for the Cincinnati Bell Connector predicted it would see about 3,200 rides each day. The streetcar saw more than 18,000 rides when it opened Sept. 9, 2016, but it has not seen more than an average of 2,026 rides a day since.

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority now estimates an average of 1,693 rides a day between July 2017 and June 2018.

Most of the streetcar funds go toward Transdev, the company hired by the city to run it. The city pays about 3 percent of the costs, with money going toward parking enforcement and related tasks.

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